TL;DR: Rather than changing where you work, focus on what you can do to change how you work, immediately.
Anyone who knows me, or who has been following this blog for a while, will know that I have been on a constant, ever-evolving journey of changing my career. From various dead-end, entry-level roles in Ireland, to increasingly-challenging project management roles in London, and leaving one of said roles to start my own business, I have never shied away from making important moves to improve my prospects. And yet, over time, my relaxed approach to resigning has reduced… I hate to say it but, with age (and possibly maturity?!), I have come to appreciate a steady income and the security that only a permanent, pensionable, public sector job can bring.
And so I find myself in the longest role I have ever held (and certainly the longest permanent job I have had by far!) after just over 3 years of working as an Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Manager in a university in Ireland. This position has not been without significant challenges, some of which I have blogged about previously, and yet I still find myself not only continuing to enjoy the afore-mentioned steady income and job security, but also at times feeling the freedom that this role allows me. This has only been made possible now that I have changed the way that I work, rather than worrying so much about where that happens.
How can you achieve this?
It has not been any one thing, but a combination of many different mindset shifts I have made over the last three years, which you can try for yourself:
1. By remembering that ‘less is more’
I hate to say it, but if you are a super-stressed, anxious individual on the brink of quitting or burning out (or both!), then you really need to do a lot less than you think – not just for your sake, but for the benefit of the people around you. It was a frustrating and humbling lesson for me to realise that my excessive involvement may not always be necessary, or even helpful sometimes – for myself or anyone else involved. You can read more about how I learned to do more by doing less by clicking here, and start to implement this for yourself, immediately.
2. By realising that ‘stress is kryptonite for connection’!
Not only is it not normal for us to feel stressed all the times, but outside of work that stress is actually getting in the way of us fully enjoying the rest of our lives?! I took some time off at the beginning of last summer and finally noticed how it could feel to live my life with less stress. I immediately experienced an increase sense of connection – not just in relationships and friendships but with myself and my own physical and mental wellbeing. You can read more about the price of stress being too high in this blog post, and learn more about what you can do to reduce it in your life.
3. By knowing who & how to ask for help when I need it
I used to think that taking care of myself meant taking care of all my problems by myself. Now I realise that it really does take a village to help us all to take care of each other. My team of people included not only trusted friends and colleagues, but also a mentor, a therapist and a naturopath! I wrote about this before when I shared what I had learned through what I thought was beating burnout but later realised was simply the beginning of an iterative process! You can read more about it in this LinkedIn post: Beyond Burnout – Red Flags & Reflections, and hopefully pick up some tips for who can help you when you need it most.
As you can see, I have already been sharing a lot of these learnings along the way, and I’m sure the lessons will continue to come, but I was recently reminded of not only how effective coaching was for me in changing how I work, but also how rewarding it is for me to coach other people in changing the way they work!
So I have decided to create an opportunity for me to do that here.
As you will soon see from the new homepage, with a few quick changes, I have now updated this blog to include some of my coaching services. Even just reading some of the old testimonials I had from my coaching days in London reminded me of the powerful sense of purpose I would feel in helping people to achieve their potential. It feels so freeing to be able to offer this now, without having to rely on my passion to pay my bills – I can simply enjoy the process without any additional pressure.
If any of my learning resonates with you, and you’re feeling frustrated or on the brink of either burning out or quitting your career, get in touch with me, and let’s see how I can help you.
Siobhán Kangataran 